Closer
by Alli-kun
Summary: Marco's cousin comes to live with him for a few months. Unexpected bonds, friendships, and romances spring up... AND NO ONE FALLS IN LOVE WITH HER! This fic is offially canceled. Sorry, all!
1. Introduction: Help Me

A/N: my usual note: in order to put these up, i have to abandon my spell check and hope for the best. so don't yell at me. Title is a not-so-obscure-anymore reference to the NIN song, which was originally toward the end. But i added it to the beginning for the introduction. Also, because i have seen nothing on the show about it, Marco has an older brother, who's in collage, and an older and younger sister. Hell, i didn't even know his last name until reading some fics, so bear with me here, people!  
  
Summary: Marco's cousin has to stay with him for a few months. Unexpected friendships, bonds, and romances spring forward.  
  
Disclaimer: I'm only going to put this once, because i can never remember to do this every chapter. I don't own Degrassi. I only own the characters that do not and will not appear in the show in any way, shape or form (ex: i own marcos' aunt, because she'll never be mentioned, but not his mother, because she has been before.) I'm going to try to put a song in every chapter. I don't own those, either.  
  
Song o' the week" 'Closer' - Nine Inch Nails  
  
Dedication: right now, to Marpha, for letting me use her name/nickname. Kate, for letting me use her name. Hannah, for letting me use the name of one of her mangas that had absolutely nothing to do with vampires, but i don't care, because it sounds cool. more to be added as the fic goes on.  
  
--Introduction: Help Me--  
  
Marco Del Rossi leaned closer to his mirror, frowning slightly, before sucking his lower lip into his mouth, making the spot of hair above his chin more accessible. No matter how many times he seemed to shave, that little patch of dark fuzz always seemed to return in under an hour.  
  
He was just beginning to dab it with shaving cream when a knock sounded on his door. Irritaded, he wiped his chin and hands before flinging open a door, armed with an insult for whoever happened to intrude upon his 'private time.' He quickly swallowed his tongue, however, after laying eyes upon his mother.  
  
She smiled gently at him, her eyes shining. "Honey," she began, her voice shaking a bit, "we have to talk."  
  
Marco took a deep breath before nodding, then following his mother down the hall to his room. Something major had happened. Either a relative had died or gone to jail, someone had made a stupid mistake in their life, or, what Marco feared most, she figured out the sexual orientation of her youngest son.  
  
She settled herself on the edge of his bed, patting the space beside her, inviting her son to sit by her. He shakily sat next to her, trying to keep his nervousness beaten down inside him, but the way his eyes couldn't focus on his mothers eyes, and the large, sweaty hand prints his palms left on his jeans gave him away.  
  
After a long, uncomfortable pause, She spoke.  
  
"I just got of the phone with Jo."  
  
Marco stiffened, not quite sure if he should be relieved just yet. Josephine Del Rossi, his fathers younger sister, was the mother of the only other person in the world who knew that he was gay.  
  
His mother sighed, not sure quite how to put this as gently as possible. She knew that Marco kept in close contact with his cousin, but was still not sure if she had let on about anything that had been happening over the past 5 years.  
  
"Martha's going to be staying with us for a little while... until her mother can find a new house."  
  
Marco let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He found himself smiling at the thought of hanging out with 'Marpha' (as he had dubbed her when they were 2) again. They had moved down to Chicago when they were 9, and that was the last time he had seen her in person. "Did Uncle Danny get another job transfer?" he inquired, finally meeting his mothers eyes. He was shocked to see a tear tumble down her cheek.  
  
"No, sweety." She sighed again, not wanting to say what she had to say next. "He was just arrested. For domestic abuse."  
  
Marco felt his legs get weak, and was glad he was already sitting, otherwise he would have collapsed. He had always thought his uncle was the most gentle man on the face of the earth. He had cringed at the thought of killing spiders, and had always insisted on using the same plastic Christmas tree so he didn't have to chop one down. How could a man like that even imagine lifting a hand to his wife? His tongue felt like sandpaper in his mouth as he tried to form words, but all he got out was a weak "How...?"  
  
"I don't know honey," his mother's voice was strained and she tried not to cry. "All I know is that for the past five years he beat up both Jo and Martha, and he may have been..." --she cringed at the thought-- "...sexually abused Martha as well."  
  
At that, she let out a long held sob. She couldn't even imagine all that her sister-in-law had had to endure, first with being a single parent, and then marrying such an abusive man, who forced her to move away from her friends and family, and had starved her daughter to the point of near death. She opened her arms to her son, who embraced her readily, allowing his own tears to be absorbed by the fabric on her shoulder.  
  
___  
  
**You let me violate you.**  
  
**You let me desecrate you.**  
  
**You let me penetrate you.**  
  
**You let me complicate you.**  
  
Martha Del Rossi artfully mixed her paints, trying desperately to make the perfect shade of red. She only had a few hours to finish this painting before she had to head for the airport. She hummed along to her favorite song of all time. Her friends had all been shocked that she still could listen to it when they found out what her step-father had done to her. But she didn't think about that anymore. It was just a song.  
  
**Help me, I broke apart my insides.**  
  
**Help me, I've got no soul to sell.**  
  
**Help me, the only thing that works for me**  
  
**Help me get away from myself.**  
  
She soon found herself absorbed in her work, concentrating on making the tiny rivers of red fall down the young man's neck gracefully, yet realistically. Her other hand was automatically unwrapping a Twinkie. She was still working on gaining back the weight that her forced anorexia had caused her to lose. Danny had always found excuses for her to go without dinner, ranging from punishing her to saying they had eaten earlier, after her guitar lesson. She wasn't entirely surprised when he first started taking her food away. He had always said he couldn't stand fat women.  
  
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**  
  
**I want to feel you from the inside.**  
  
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**  
  
**My whole existence is flawed.**  
  
**You bring me closer to God**  
  
She ignored the splashes of paint that dotted her skin, just like she had ignored the bruises. Now, after weeks of counseling, she had learned to be, not proud, but unashamed of her 'battle scars.' She felt comfortable enough to leave the house in a t-shirt in shorts for the first time in years, ignoring the stares of the neighbors. She was no longer a novelty to them, no longer known as the 'Abused Girl,' as she had been after her step-father's arrest. She endured the rumors for a few weeks before finally, the hype dulled down, and people stopped whispering about her behind their backs.  
  
**You can have my isolation.**  
  
**You can have the hate that it brings.**  
  
**You can have my absence of faith.**   
  
**You can have my everything.**  
  
She still wasn't sure who had made the call. All she knew was that she had fainted as her dad was removing his belt to punish her for complaining of the hunger. When she had woken up, she was shocked to find herself tucked in a hospital bed, rather then her own, where she usually found herself after her dizzy spells. She had been just over 50 pounds then, and according to the doctors, would not have survived the last beating if the police hadn't showed up. She didn't dare question it then, and it was still a touchy subject with her mother. She just had to learn to be thankful that he had finally been stopped.  
  
**Help me tear down my reason.**   
  
**Help me it's your sex I can smell.**  
  
**Help me you make me perfect.**   
  
**Help me become somebody else.**  
  
She sighed and sat back on her heels, convinced that she was finished. She had been painting scenes for her friend Kate's story series 'Frost,' which was a huge hit among the student body at their highschool. The scene showed Frost, the protagonist vampire, after he had discovered that the man he had been stalking through the whole series and had finally attacked was actually the legendary coven master, Zachary, and could not understand how a vampire like himself could pass on as so mortal, so unchanged, untouched by the corruption of nightly killing. It had been a scene she had begged Kate to write in, wanting to paint it so badly that she would have anyway. She had always wanted to paint Zachary in detail, because all the characters were modeled after people they knew. Except Zachary. He was her own creation, and she couldn't be more proud of him.  
  
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**  
  
**I want to feel you from the inside.**  
  
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**  
  
**My whole existence is flawed.**  
  
**You bring me closer to God**  
  
She stood back after signing her work, and snapped a Polaroid of it, like all her paintings. She would have to leave it to Kate to finish for her, because she had to pack. She gave a happy sigh. Degrassi. Where she had grown up. Where all her family and childhood friends lived. Where Marco was. She looked the most forward to seeing Marco. They had talked every now and then online, and she had written some stories for him, but she still missed actually seeing him in person. She had so much to tell him. And she couldn't wait to play matchmaker, something she had promised to do as soon as they saw each other again. He had told her that he wanted a boyfriend before he officilly came out, just to make sure that he really was gay. Martha was confident she could arrange that. Though she was two weeks younger then her male cousin, she had had a lot more of experience with high school boys, and was somehow able to predict exactly how dates would come out. She had never been wrong, and her friends had all learned to trust her opinions about their dates. Setting up Marco would be a snap.  
  
She stopped the CD player in mid-song, packing it away in her carry on. Most of the stuff in her room was already packed away, besides her painting supplies and a few books and CDS. She gave a genuine smile, one of the few she had used in the past 5 years, and busied herself packing, unable to wait to get to her new, though temporary, home.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: I bet you that i know what most of you are thinking... and you're alllll wrong. ^.^;; okay, maybe not all of you, but MOST of you are! Another thing i would just like to add. I find that if i re-read a chapter before posting it, it never gets up, so if there are any inconsistencies, please point them out. Also, i'm going to try to update every Sunday, so if i don't, just yell at me in an e-mail with the subject 'Degrassi Fic', and i'll get going. I have this whole thing outlined, except for the ending, and that's way off. I'll tell you in advance if i think i can't update, which will happen when i'm kicked out of the room with the phone jack when my brother comes home, and when that happens, i'll upload 2 new chapters... probably... Anyway, i hope you enjoyed, and i hope you review, but keep in mind that what's going to happen hasn't happened before in any of the fics i've seen. So no matter how familiar the plot may seem, there are going to be a lot of twists coming up!  
  
--Alli ~^v^~ 


	2. He treats me like a rag doll

A/N: Sorry I updated so late. I've had an assload of homework this past week and never got a chance to type this out. Hopefully, it'll be better next week. I finally figured out my crap for crap computer and can use spell check once again! But, speaking of spell check, if I do something stupid (like misspell 'friendships' in the summary), tell me please. I'm not that observant. It'll take me a while to realize, okay? On the 'notes', I have no clue what's going on with new characters, or how their personalities have changed and such, so I'm just going to write what I know. Just think of it as a new kid going with her first impressions. they will change over time, and more will be added, as well as the grade 9 kids, so don't fret. Wow, this was a big ass A/N... hopefully, it won't be so long next week....  
  
Song o' the week: 'Jane Says' by Jane's Addiction... though not used in its entirety.  
  
Dedication: Marpha (because now you're letting me steal your little brother's name), Kate and Hannanana again.  
  
-Chapter 1: He Treats Me Like a Rag Doll -  
  
Much to her dismay, Martha Del Rossi found herself chewing on her nails, a habit she had thought to be broken for a year. Her other hand was busy twirling and re-twirling one of her pigtails. Her feet were bouncing like crazy. It was impossible for her to sit still. Most people would think she was having a panic attack. And she was on the verge of having one.  
  
Not that she wouldn't be surprised if the aged secretary couldn't find her file. With all that was going on, she couldn't expect her mother to remember everything. Though one would think that sending your daughter's school record to her temp school would be pretty much top priority. But she really wanted to get the show on the road, and get the introductions over with.  
  
A bell sounded and the halls outside the office filled with the sounds of dozens of kids changing classes. She stifled a groan. She had missed first period. Even more work to catch up on. And right now she was supposed to meet Marco to see what classes they had together.  
  
"I'm sorry, Miss, but we have no Martha Del Rossi here," the ancient woman croaked, her voice thin and reedy. She took a long sip from the coffee mug on her desk before continuing; "You can use our phone if you'd like to call someone..."  
  
"Thank you, Ma'am." Martha forced a smile and tried her best to be polite as she moved around the desk to get access to the phone. She had dialed half of her aunts work number before she caught sight of a different folder on the desk, and perked up a bit.  
  
"Ma'am? Could you check under Marco Del Rossi?" she asked hopefully.  
  
The old woman looked a bit taken aback. "Excuse me, dear? Marco?"  
  
"According to that..." -Martha pointed at the file- "...you file by the first three letters of the last name, then the first three letters of the first name, so as not to confuse relatives, right?" She didn't wait for a reply. "You must have seen 'DelMar' on my file and put it in my cousin Marco's. It's happened before, so... could you just check?" she finished awkwardly.  
  
The secretary took a moment to take this in before slowly moving to the filing cabinets for the third time. After a minute, she pulled out a file, a small smile pressed on her face. "You were right, dear," she murmured. "It was stuck in Marco Del Rossi's file."  
  
It took a few more minutes to make her a copy of her schedule and locker number, and the old woman took the time to write out a note explaining what had gone wrong. Martha thanked her quickly before running out the door, heading for the locker that her cousin had agreed to share. After putting the rest of her books away, and sped along to her English class. Ten minutes later, she admitted to being hopelessly lost and headed back to the office to be steered in the right direction.  
  
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~  
  
Marco was beginning to get worried. He hadn't seen hide or hair of Martha all day. It was already half way through second period. He could understand if she had gotten lost, but she was supposed to be in this class, judging by how Ms. Kwan had called her name about six times, much to the confusion of everyone, who called out that his name was Marco, not Martha.  
  
The sound of the door opening came as a welcome distraction to everyone. They all turned to look at the tall, brunet girl who entered the room, fumbling with books and a few slips of paper. She finally extracted a piece of yellow stationary and handed it to Ms. Kwan before standing awkwardly in front of the room. She shifted her weight, her combat boots making clunking sounds that seemed to echo in the silent room. She seemed out of place in her old, faded, baggy jeans and tight homemade shirt that simply said 'Jane Says.' One of her hands unconsciously started to twirl at the hair in one of her pigtails.  
  
Ms. Kwan skimmed the note before smiling at the girl and announcing to the class, "This is Martha Del Rossi. She's transferring here temporarily from Chicago."  
  
Martha gave a sheepish wave and a faint "Hello."  
  
"Why don't you tell the class a bit about yourself," Ms. Kwan urged. "And try to mention, lets say, your favorite band and the last book you read."  
  
"Okay..." Martha was a bit weirded out by the outline for her introduction. "Like she said, my name's Martha Del Rossi, but you can all call me Marpha." A small murmur of laughter ran through the room. Martha got a confidence boost. "I used to live here, but I don't remember any of you. I like to paint and write stories about Harry Potter. I'm thinking of joining the Spirit Squad because, like in Bring It On, there's no gymnastics team and that's the only sport I can do. My favorite band at the moment is Rooney, and the last book I've read was Frost, Volume 8, which none of you have heard of before because it was written by my friend Kate and printed with what we used for the newspaper at my old school." She smiled at the class. "Oh, and I'm Marco's cousin." she added as an afterthought, resisting the urge to wave at him.  
  
Ms. Kwan smiled at Martha again. "Welcome to Degrassi, Martha. Take the seat over there behind Paige."  
  
Martha perked up a bit. It was a name she recognized. But she had no clue who her childhood friend was in the room. She looked to Ms. Kwan for help, who pointed to an empty seat in the back, behind a blond girl who looked a bit shocked.  
  
Martha slid into her seat before poking Paige in the back and muttering "You're pokish." Paige turned around and smirked at the girl she hadn't seen since grade four, poking her back.  
  
"How've you been?" Paige asked softly. "I haven't heard from you in forever."  
  
"I've been going through some hard times," Martha worded carefully. "But life's been good so far."  
  
"I have a ton to talk to you about. You wouldn't believe what happened last..."  
  
"Paige, I'm glad you want welcome Martha, but please do it on your own time." Ms. Kwan interrupted before turning to Martha. "You'll be paired up with Craig for this project."  
  
"I thought I was supposed to do it alone," the boy sitting next to her piped up.  
  
"That was before we had an even number of students, Mr. Manning. But keep in mind, the next time you're late, you won't be so lucky."  
  
Craig settled back in his seat before glancing over at Martha, and mumbling out of the corner of his mouth, "I'm done with Sergio."  
  
It took a few seconds for her to catch on before mumbling back "He treats me like a rag doll." With that, she cracked open a small notebook, and, with a few notes to Paige, began to make a list of the guys in her class:  
  
Jimmy Brooks appearance: I can see how some people can say he's cute. He's smiled only once so far, but it's definitely his best feature. Has expensive taste; everything from his backpack to his socks to his sweatshirt are brand names I've only seen in rap videos. personality: Hard to tell. He seems bored, and keeps on talking the Spinner (see below). availability: He keeps staring at Ashley, but no definite signs of having a girlfriend. verdict: Maybe. I'd have to get to know him more before I can make a final verdict.  
  
Gavin 'Spinner' Mason appearance: He's cute, I'll give him that. Has really cool hair. But he dresses like he's trying to be a gangsta who shops in a thrift store. Plus, he smelled kind of bad when I walked by him... personality: Immature. Keeps cracking jokes to Jimmy (see above). Seems the type of guy who would laugh if someone said 'thingy' the wrong way. availability: He doesn't seem to be the type of guy who'd have a girlfriend, but, according to Paige, he's hers. verdict :Most likely not.  
  
Craig Manning appearance: Cute and indie. Has a small Jew-fro, but it works for him, which I usually can't stand, but it makes him look even more indie, like that guy from the Strokes. Has a cute little scar on his right cheek... wait, scars aren't supposed to be cute, are they? personality: Laid back. Despite that I sit next to him, I can't tell the inner workings of his mind. Must be an artist... availability: Has a picture of him and Ashley in his binder, so I'm guessing taken. verdict: I could see him and Marco together, but the girlfriend thing makes him an unlikely choice.  
  
Marco Del Rossi appearance: Cute, as always. He's grown his hair out since the last school picture he sent me. I can readily admit that if I weren't related to him, I'd date him. personality: Funny, charming, charismatic, and, if he really wants to be, a bit flamboyant... that's never hurt anybody, has it? availability: Single. Duh. That's why I'm taking notes. verdict: I'm sure he'd love to date himself, but no.  
  
She was interrupted by the third bell of the day, signaling morning break. She quickly stuffed her notebook into her bag before catching up with Paige, who re-acquainted her with Ashley and Terri, and introduced her to Hazel and Ellie. She signaled to Marco that she'd meet him outside at lunch, and then went to catch up on the last five years.  
  
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~  
  
"Spinner does not try to be gangsta."  
  
"He's wearing an old Sean John sweatshirt and it looks like he tried to make his shoes Air Force Ones." Martha leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands. "That's gangsta enough."  
  
Marco looked back at her notes. "And he is mature... Sure, he plays stupid pranks and called me Marcia for the better part of last year..." Martha burst out laughing, and Marco glared at her before continuing, "But he's really smart and funny, and got over laughing at 'thingy' in grade 7."  
  
"You seem awfully defensive." Martha noted, grinning cheekily. "Sounds like you might have a crush on him."  
  
Marco tried not to blush. "I do not!" He said a bit too loudly. "I just want you to have your facts straight..."  
  
"Chill, okay? I'm just wondering. You have to have a crush on somebody, though, and you're going to have to tell me what you think of people before I start to play the Match Game."  
  
Marco's blush deepened. "You're not actually going to set me up with people from school, are you?"  
  
"Of course I am! Who else do you think I can set you up with? Every guy in town goes here." Marco stared at his feet and mumbled something incoherent. Martha sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm going to make sure they would actually want to go out with a guy before even mentioning you."  
  
Before he could answer, Craig walked up and sat himself down next to Marco. Marco slammed the notebook shut and practically threw it at Martha, who rolled her eyes at his jumpiness before putting it back in her bag. Craig looked curiously at both of them. "What's up?"  
  
"Nothing. Just comparing schedules." Martha began to twirl a pigtail for the thirtieth time that day.  
  
Craig nodded. "Cool. So... do you want to go discuss our English project?"  
  
"Sure." Martha stood and turned to her cousin. "See you in Media Immersions."  
  
"Yeah." Marco squeaked before walking in the direction of the basketball courts, where Jimmy and Spinner were playing.  
  
"So, what exactly is this project? I wasn't exactly paying attention in class." Martha asked as they began to walk around the campus, heading for the soccer fields.  
  
"We're supposed to do something on Slaughterhouse Five." Craig shrugged. "Anything. Write a summery, talk about our feelings, do artwork for it... I have no clue what to do..."  
  
Martha resisted the urge to laugh. "I now have proof that every high school gets a manual of projects to assign kids. I had to do that last year."  
  
"Really? What did you do."  
  
"A song. Me and my friend Kate just wrote about how the author reminded us of Douglas Adams, and put it to the tune of this song her brother wrote. We got an A. If you want, we can just use that again."  
  
"Sounds good to me." Craig smiled at her. "This has been the easiest project I've ever had to do."  
  
"Hold on a second. You're still going to have to sing." Martha pointed out.  
  
Craig stopped short. "Why do I have to sing? You sing, I'll play the song!"  
  
"I have the worst voice in the history of the world." Martha rolled her eyes again. "And it's a lot simpler to remember the lyrics then one of Sammy's insane songs."  
  
They stared each other down for a few moments, trying to mentally wear down the other's resistance. Finally, Martha sighed. "I'll play it for you, then we can decide who does what, okay?"  
  
"Sounds good to me." They stood there awkwardly for a few more moments before Craig tried to fill the silence. "So, how do you like Degrassi?"  
  
"It's okay." They started walking again. "It's better then where I used to live, that's for sure. Though it's going to be a little hard getting used to things."  
  
"Don't worry about that. I was new here last year, and it was really easy to make friends and stuff..."  
  
"No, that's not what I mean." Martha stopped again, bitting her lip, trying to find the words. "It's just... going to be hard getting back into the swing of a 'normal' life." She took a few seconds before continuing. "My step-dad just went to jail. For the last five years, he's been... there's no light way to put this... he's been beating both my mom and me."  
  
Craig shifted uncomfortably. "I know what you mean... My dad did the same..."  
  
"Somehow, I highly doubt it..." Martha winced at how uncaring she sounded. "That is, unless he starved you half to death and touched your chest every chance he got."  
  
"Yeah, well, at least he's still alive. My father died." Craig snapped. He winced too and looked away, regretting allowing what was left of his bitterness to creep into the conversation.  
  
"I'm so sorry." She bit her lip again. "I mean, I'm sure he was a heartless bastard and all, my dad was, but I would never wish him dead." She stepped back into his line of vision. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
"No, I've talked about it enough." He turned back to her in smiled. "It's just still a little hard to deal with sometimes."  
  
Martha nodded in understanding. "Anyway, It's great living with Marco." They started to walk again. "I finally have someone to talk to that I can trust won't blab it to everyone he's ever met. I once told Kate that I liked this guy, Steve, and the next day, everyone thought that we had dated, slept together, and were planning on getting married." Craig laughed and Martha couldn't help but smile. "And what's even better is that he trusts me. We talked almost every night before I moved. I was the first person he went to when he decided he was gay."  
  
She stopped short with a gasp, eyes wide, hands over her mouth. Craig continued to walk a few steps before her words sunk in. He whirled around to face her. "What?!"  
  
"I didn't say anything." Martha's voice was high pitched and frantic. "Oh god, I didn't mean to say anything. I mean, I know, sometimes I babble, but I'm usually really good about secrets and stuff. You probably hate him now and are never going to talk to him again. Oh god, please don't hate him. And don't let him know that you know, or that I told you, because he'd never trust me again." She grabbed his hands, her eyes wide as she babbled. "Please don't hate him. And don't let on that you know and please, please, don't let this affect your friendship with him. I know it's a lot to ask of you but please, I'm begging you..."  
  
"Martha!" Craig put his hands on her shoulders, forcing eye contact. "Relax. It's okay. Just a bit of a shock, that's all. I'm not going to hate him just because of something little like that."  
  
She took a deep breath. "You're fine with this?" she asked in total disbelief.  
  
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Craig smiled. "I know gay people. I mean... Okay, so I don't know any gay people personally, but... I watch Will & Grace..."  
  
She smiled. "I get it. But still, don't let on that you know. He's not ready to come out yet..."  
  
"I understand completely." He let go of her shoulders as the lunch bell rang. "Why don't you come over my house after school. Play me that song."  
  
"Sounds good to me." Martha began to walk back towards the school. "I'll meet you outside the front entrance, okay?" He nodded. "See ya latter, Craig."  
  
"See ya," he paused and smiled, "Marpha."  
  
She gave him a last smile before walking into the building.  
  
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ Just a random question for everyone. I know it's weird, but my friend and I have been debating it for awhile and even our mothers aren't sure... Is Marco Italian or Hispanic? It looks like he could be both (depending on the lighting) and it's hard to tell by the last name... If anyone knows, I'll owe you forever... Oh, and I'm sorry again for being late, but please, if you're looking forward to an update, e-mail me, or it might be two weeks again...  
  
And now:  
The two people that e-mailed me: I'm sorry, but I lost your reviews,  
so I can't really comment on it... sorry!  
Justin the Green Llama: I know exactly how you feel! I saw no Marco  
fics and randomly decided to write one myself. Sometimes you have to  
take initiatives, right? Pink Hair: I'm glad you like it so far! I hope you enjoy the rest of it!  
Stacy's Mom: I know this has nothing to do with your review, but are  
you a FOW fan? I've liked them ever since Utopia Parkway came out, and  
it's kind of rare to find someone who's heard of them before your  
namesake... Just wondering! Bren Eldrid Bera: That is freaky... ^.^; sorry I didn't review sooner. Hope you enjoyed this! 


	3. I sing I dance I hop

A/N: one again, FF.net decided to get rid of every tab I put in so that the notes and thank you's got a bit messed up... hopefully, I can fix it. Okay, I stepped away from the fandom for awhile, mostly because the whole Manny thing is really, REALLY bugging me... so, let's just pretend it didn't happen, mmkay? I'm sincerely sorry that I've taken so long, and I have received a few e-mails... I've been zeroing in on my new Angel-Craze (Spangel is my new religion...They're like an old married couple... ^.^ Who hold hands! ~squee~ And, because I'm me, it will most likely get mentioned several times in this. Go me!)... But... here we go!  
  
Song o' the week: um... 'Fuzzy bunnies are my friends'? I couldn't really think of anything that would fit this chapter...  
  
Dedications: Marpha, Kate, Hannanana (now I'm stealing the bunnies song! You must stop me!), and Erin (there! I named someone Lolita for you!)  
  
-Chapter 2: I Sing, I Dance, I Hop-  
  
The silence was golden. Sunlight slanted through the partway open window and shown on the dishes that cluttered the table, yet to be cleared away from breakfast. It flowed down the hallway, cluttered with children's toys, to the equally cluttered living room. Crayons were strewn over the coffee table, and video game controllers lay in a tangled mess before the TV. Nothing stirred at all.  
  
There was a sound of a key scrapping in a lock. The front door opened to reveal Craig Manning, laughing his head off, and Martha Del Rossi, looking rather pleased that Craig had liked her Jake (Ghyllanhall) impersonating Christopher Walken impression. She entered the once golden house, looking around at the clutter a bit apprehensively. Craig noticed this.  
  
"I'm sorry that house is a bit messed up." Craig said, pocketing his key again. "We're kind of in a rush in the mornings. Joey's usually here to straighten things up a bit, but he has to work today..."  
  
"No, it's great!" Martha flashed a smile. "It looks lived in. My old house was really... I guess you would call it had sterile feel to it. Nothing could be out of place or my dad would go ballistic..." she stopped and grimaced at the memories.  
  
"I'll go and get my guitar," Craig offered, changing the subject to something less painful. "Just make yourself comfortable."  
  
He raced upstairs as Martha settled herself onto the old, beaten up couch. She picked up a crayon and doodled a bit before being distracted by several crashes overhead. Craig practically fell down the stairs, trying to carry his guitar, a small amp, about 30 feet of wire, and a large ream of paper. She looked at him oddly as he set everything up, before remarking "You could have just brought me your acoustic."  
  
"I don't have one," he stated simply as he attempted to untangle the wire. "Ah, one of the lucky few who can start out with an electric." Martha lay back and sighed. "When I was 7, I told my mom I wanted to play bass. She made me take piano lessons for 4 years to build finger strength, then guitar lessons to get used to... I don't know, standing and strumming? Though it is a whole different set of muscles for bass... not to mention you don't really strum... Anyway, I had to do a year of acoustic before she even considered buying me an electric... and I still haven't learned anything about bass."  
  
"That sucks." Craig finally gave up and just plugged the guitar in with the tangled mess. "If you ever get one, our band could use a bassist. We have three guitars and a drummer, but no bassist."  
  
"That's sort of like my old band." She took the guitar from him. "Except everyone wanted to sing, so we had a drummer who had never taken lessons in her life, a bassist who had only a months worth of lessons, a guitarist who wanted to be the bassist, and about 5 singers. We were not a pretty sight."  
  
She played a few chords and grimaced. After taking a minute to tune it, she lazily strum a few chords, before singing along.: "Fuzzy bunnies are my friends They sing and dance and hop. When I go and see them I hope they never stop. I want to be just like them So I sing, I dance, I hop. This is just one reason Fuzzy bunnies are the tops."  
  
Craig cocked his head to one side and gave her a quizzical look. "Slaughterhouse Five is about bunnies?"  
  
"No, you twit." She leaned over and slapped his arm. "That's just my warmup song... Pretty, ne?"  
  
"Yeah, pretty." He rolled his eyes. "But I don't know what you're talking about when you say you can't sing. You're almost as good as Ash."  
  
"Gee, thanks," she said rather sarcastically. "Trust me, when you hear this song, your eardrums may explode."  
  
She proceeded to play a series of complicated chords with a rather odd strumming pattern. Her fingers flew and never missed their mark, and her pick hand seemed to have a mind of its own. Craig had never seen anything like it before, shocked to see that she wasn't even bothering to watch herself to make sure she was getting it right. She took a deep intake of breath and was just about to start singing when the front door opened.  
  
"Joey, you're home early." Craig tried his best to sound uncaring. He didn't want Joey to embarrass himself at the sight of a guitar again. There was only so much of the old Zits' song that he could handle.  
  
"It was a slow day, so I locked up early." Joey started to straighten out the mess that still lay in the front hall. "Remember, you have to take Ang...." he had noticed Martha, who sat on the couch smiling shyly at him.  
  
"Who might this lovely young lady be?" he asked, extending a hand to her, though his eyes remained on Craig, reflecting a few questions that needed to be answered.  
  
"I'm Martha Del Rossi." She shook his hand heartily. "Just moved in this week."  
  
"I see," Joey said, though he wasn't listening at all. "Craig, can I talk to you for a sec?"  
  
Martha glanced from her new friend to his guardian, almost seeing the sparks that flew from the looks they were giving each other. Finally, Craig stood and followed Joey into the next room. She smirked and moved herself closer to the door, intent on eavesdropping, while playing a few chords to make it appear that she wasn't.  
  
"What have I told you about having girls in the house when you're alone?" Joey's query failed to remain a whisper. Martha bit back her laugh. She could have stayed on the couch and listened to this.  
  
"You said I couldn't have Ash around when you weren't home." Craig sounded a bit exasperated, as if they'd gone over this hundreds of times before.  
  
"You know what I meant."  
  
"You made that rule so I wouldn't go too far with my girlfriend, and she isn't may girlfriend."  
  
There was a few seconds of silence, then: "I can't believe you."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Did you think she wouldn't find out?" "Who wouldn't find what out? "I don't want you to ruin your relationship with Ashley just because your following your hormones." "Joey!" "And yes, I realize this Margaret..." "Martha, Joey. It's Martha." "Okay, I realize this Martha is very pretty, but just because she's willing doesn't mean you have to go along with it." "Joey!!" "I know how it feels. I've been in your shoes before. But this isn't a good way of dealing with this..." "Joey, we're doing an English project!" "And your working on it on a Thursday? When you know I won't be home?" "It was just given today and she had a great idea that we wanted to get done." "So why were you singing to her?" "Me sing to her? She's the one holding the guitar! And she's the one playing it now! That's what our project is! A song about a book we're reading."  
  
They went back in forth like that for a few more minutes, Joey intent on finding the ulterior motive to Martha's little visit. It was already hard for her to not keel over in laughter from the start, so when she heard that the argument was coming to a close, she knew she wouldn't be able to keep a straight face for very long. She moved back to the couch just as Joey and Craig re-entered the room.  
  
"I hate to stop the party, but I've got to get home." Martha stood up quickly, resting the guitar on the couch. "I have to walk Lolo to ballet."  
  
"Lolo?" she heard Craig call after her.  
  
"Lolita. My youngest cousin, Marco's younger sister. I promised I'd take her so she could give me her own tour of the town." She grabbed her bag and jacket from next to the door.  
  
"Well, I have to pick up Angela and take her to ballet too." Craig grabbed his own jacket. "And since there's only one dance school here, I'll assume it's the same class and offer to go with you."  
  
"Sounds good to me." She turned back into the house. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Jeremiah. Hopefully next time, I can stick around for a bit longer."  
  
"Bye," Joey said, a bit tired and a bit absentmindedly, still a bit confused from his argument.  
  
They waited until they were a ways away from the house before they began to discuss.  
  
"Can you believe it?" Craig rolled his eyes. "He actually thought I would cheat on Ash."  
  
"That's not what shocked me." Martha laughed a bit. "I couldn't believe that he thought we were both horny enough to just do it on your couch!"  
  
Craig gave a small laugh, and Martha went on: "Though it would be kind of cool to be the girl who's being used to cheat on someone, but is aware of it. It's like I'm a mistress or something. I could become a dominatrix! 'Mistress Martha' has a bit of a ring to it, ne?"  
  
"You're a bit too perky to be a Mistress," Craig managed. "Unless you were the happy dominatrix. All your stuff could be pink and fuzzy yet covered in black PVC."  
  
"Mu hu hu!" she called into the night, doing her best to make her otherwise comical laugh sound evil. It was drowned out by the loud laughs of the teenager who made it and her companion. ~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~  
  
"So I divide by 2, then take the square roots..." Marco mumbled to himself later that night as he struggled with his Algebra homework. "So the answer is 5 radical 2... no, that can't be right..."  
  
"Knock Knock, favorite cousin," Martha called from his door way, where she had been standing for the past five minutes.  
  
Marco jumped slightly. He glared over at the girl in the door, but was very happy about the distraction. Martha sauntered over to his bed, sprawled out on it and began to play with one of his pillows. "How was Craig's."  
  
"Joey's insanely overprotective." She turned over on her stomach. "Didn't get any of the project done, though."  
  
"Don't tell me he made you listen to that awful Zits song," Marco groaned, pitying her already.  
  
Martha's face screwed up. "I don't even want to know what that's all about. He just thought that me and Craig were about to have wild passionate monkey sex on the living room couch."  
  
Marco rolled his eyes.  
  
"Have you thought about that whole 'telling me who you're crushing on' thing?" Martha queried, tilting her head slightly.  
  
"A little," he admitted, suddenly feeling very self conscious. "There's this senior, Dylan..."  
  
"Nope, try again."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Rule Number One in the art of dating: Never have a senior for a first boyfriend. If things get serious, you'll have to end it when they go off to collage." She shifted her position once again, now sitting cross legged on the mattress. "Besides, if it's the Dylan I think you're thinking of, he's a creep."  
  
"But... he's gay..."  
  
"So?" Her eyes narrowed. "Just because two people are gay doesn't automatically mean they're attracted to each other. Same way that just because two people of the opposite sex are alone together doesn't mean they're going to have wild passionate monkey sex."  
  
"But... he's cute..."  
  
"Were you the one who spent most of their developmental years over their house? No. Trust me, you're too good for him." She tossed the pillow at him for emphasis. "Any other ideas?"  
  
"Not really... What about you?" Marco asked, throwing the pillow back.  
  
She caught it as a small, secretive smile spread across her face. "I have a few prospects..." she admitted, her grin turning almost evil. "And a few good plans..."  
  
"Why do I suddenly dread my very existence?" Marco shuddered at the thoughts that statement had given him.  
  
"Mu hu hu!"  
  
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ A/N: not doing direct thanks at the moment, sorry... The Joey/Craig argument was written before he became and asshole and actually did cheat on Ash... got loads of laughs after that one, let me tell you... Have I mentioned I hate Manny? I never thought they were good together and now? ~sigh~ those silly writers, making one of my fave chars all jerk-like... But I digress. Feel free to hurl flaming balls of trash at me if I don't update anytime soon... or to send me some nummy Spangel-related pics if you like it. Mmm... Spangel...(yeah, I'm obsessive, what else is new?) 


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